Adjustable apron of vinyl laminate

Abstract

An adjustable apron is disclosed which is made of three separate pieces of vinyl fabric, namely a body member and two identical crescent-shaped arm cut-out strips. The vinyl fabric is a soft and flexible vinyl laminate formed by bonding poly(vinyl chloride) to a woven cotton cloth. The apron is so constructed as to provide a neck loop which is adjustable for wearers having a wide variety of body shapes and sizes. The apron is provided with a pair of arcuate arm cut-outs having seams each of which has a critical radius in the range from 25 cm to about 40 cm. With this radius, when the apron is worn, with its vinyl surface exteriorly disposed, the cotton cloth inner surface of the laminate frictionally engages the clothing of the wearer and provides a good fit with a relatively large contact surface which allows the wearer to secure the apron in a comfortable position on his body. The arm cut-outs are (i) dimensioned so as to allow frictionally restricted, flat arcuate movement of a laminar cotton tape slidably and snugly held between opposed cotton inner surfaces of arcuate hem passages at the arm cut-outs, frictional engagement of the tape in the passages allowing the apron to be held in position on the wearer; (ii) constructed to provide a hidden arcuate reinforcing seam against which the neck loop rubs, and is stressed, without rubbing against the stitches of the seam; and (iii) in use, when the ends of the tape are tensioned and tied behind the body of the wearer, at his waist, the body member of the apron does not become gathered and bunched together to form stress-creases in the vinyl in the areas where the tape exits from the body member.

I claim: 
     
       1. An adjustable apron to fit a person chosen from a wide range of body shapes and sizes, said apron comprising, (a) a body member of soft, flexible vinyl laminate of poly(vinyl chloride) bonded to a woven cotton fabric,   (b) two separate identical quarter-ring-shaped arm cut-out strips of said vinyl laminate,   (c) a single flat continuous tape snugly and slidably held in said apron so as to be frictionally engaged therein for arcuate movement only upon exertion of a force, said tape forming an adjustable neck loop and waist-tying ends,   (d) two arcuate hems to permit support of said apron on the person's pelvic region, each hem being formed by sewing one of said arm cut-out strips to said body member on opposite sides thereof, said hem including (i) an arcuate hidden reinforcing seam having a radius from about 25 cm to about 40 cm, said seam being formed with a first top-stitch which compresses vinyl surfaces of said body member and an arm cut-out strip in abutting relationship between their woven cotton fabric surfaces so as to hinder propagation of punctures caused by said first top-stitch,   (ii) a second top-stitch fastening said body member and said arm cut-out strip and compressing their cotton fabric surfaces in abutting relationship between their vinyl surfaces, and   (iii) a third top-stitch which secures said hidden reinforcing seam tightly between said arm cut-out strip and said body member, so as to form   (iv) an edge-rubbing surface against which the upper edge of said tape rubs when the apron is adjusted for use, and against which edge-rubbing surface the tape is stressed when the apron is in use, whereby, the apron is fixedly removably secured on the body of its wearer by tying a knot in said waist-tying ends so as to tension said tape without forming stress creases in said body member in the areas where said tape exits said hems.